of Detroit. These envoys watched the
Indians who were there, and tried to influence the great gatherings of
different tribes who came together at Sandusky to consult as to the
white advance. [Footnote: State Department MSS., No. 150, vol. iii.
Harmar's speech to the Indians at Vincennes, September 17, 1787. Richard
Butler to the Secretary of War, May 4, 1788, etc.]

These efforts to negotiate were as disheartening as was usually the case
under such circumstances. There were many different tribes, and some
were for peace, while others were for war; and even the peaceful ones
could not restrain their turbulent young men. Far off nations of Indians
who had never been harmed by the whites, and were in no danger from
them, sent war parties to the Ohio; and the friendly tribes let them
pass without interference. The Iroquois were eagerly consulted by the
western Indians, and in the summer of 1788 a great party of them came to
Sandusky to meet in council all the tribes of the Lakes and the Ohio
valley, and even some from the upper Mississippi. With the Iroquois came
the famous chief Joseph Brant, a mighty warrior, and a man of education,
who in his letters to the United States officials showed much polished
diplomacy. [Footnote: _Do_., pp. 47 and 51.]

The Indians Hold Great Councils.

The tribes who gathered at this great council met on the soil which, by
treaty with England, had been declared American, and came from regions
which the same treaty had defined as lying within the boundaries of the
United States. But these provisions of the treaty had never been
executed, owing largely to a failure on the part of the Americans
themselves to execute certain other provisions. The land was really as
much British as ever, and was so treated by the British Governor of
Canada, Lord Dorchester, who had just made a tour of the Lake Posts. The
tribes were feudatory to the British, and in their talks spoke of the
King of Great Britain as "father," and Brant was a British pensioner.
British agents were in constant communication with the Indians at the
councils, and they distributed gifts among them with a hitherto
unheard-of lavishness. In every way they showed their resolution to
remain in full touch with their red allies. [Footnote: _Do_., St. Clair
to Knox, September 14, 1788; St. Clair to Jay, December 13, 1788.]

Nevertheless, they were anxious that peace should be made. The Wyandots,
too, seconded them, and addressed the Waba